


Parenting

by RensSaxophone



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:08:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25146718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RensSaxophone/pseuds/RensSaxophone
Summary: A Ren/Masa angst parenting fic.
Relationships: Hijirikawa Masato/Jinguuji Ren
Kudos: 13





	Parenting

“Dad!” Masato’s five year old daughter, Yuki, is the first to greet him when he comes in the door. She was technically the youngest of his three children- though her twin brother, Yuuya, was only a few minutes older. “Sai made Daddy sad!”

Yuuya, who had been just behind Yuki, smacks her hard. “Tattler!” 

“Yuuya.” Masato says sharply. When Yuki begins crying, clinging to Masato’s shirt, Masato sets one hand on her back, his face stern. “We do not hit. Apologize to your sister.”

“...Sorry, Yuki.” Yuuya mutters. 

Yuki’s crying is already slowing, turning into angry sniffles. Masato sets his hand on her hair, his eyebrows furrowing. “Can you two play nice while I check on your father?”

“Yes, Dad.” Yuuya mumbles. Yuki nods against Masato’s side. When Yuki finally lets go of Masato, Masato stays long enough to see them run into Yuuya’s room. With both Ren and Masato’s old idol jobs and their families- even with Masato’s strained relationship, they lived in a large enough house to give each child their own room. When Masato doesn’t hear anything suspicious- he heads to his own room. 

He’s already worried, but it worsens when he sees Ren, hunched over the bed with his head in his hands, his hair hiding his face. “Darling?” Masato’s voice softens. 

Ren looks up, jumping, and Masato can see the tear trails on his cheeks, still wet, and how shiny his eyes are. “Oh!” Ren quickly runs the heels of his hands over his face, forcing a smile. “I’m sorry. I lost track of time…”

“Don’t apologize.” Masato’s stern tone is too soft, heading to the bed. His pale hand lifts, using the backs of his fingers to brush away a few new tears that have worked their way down onto Ren’s cheeks. “Tell me what happened.” 

Ren laughs, but it’s weak and insincere. “Sai and I just… got into it.” Saito was thirteen now- and Ren and Masato had adopted him when he was five. Recently, both Ren and Masato had noticed that he had shifted from a very sweet child to a very volatile one, often misbehaving at home and at school, and while he was never rude to Masato’s face, Masato had heard some of the things that Saito would say to Ren, and to say that he was unhappy with them was an understatement. Masato taps Ren’s legs, and Ren shifts, turning so that his legs are together, hanging off of the bed. Masato climbs onto Ren’s lap, and Ren moves to hold onto him tightly. If Ren were anyone else, Masato would take a different position- but he knew that this was one that Ren preferred. “I asked about his homework.” Ren’s next laugh is teary, as he buried his head into the crook of Masato’s neck. Masato brings a hand up to run through Ren’s hair. “And he snapped on me. He told me I had no right to involve myself in his personal life. He said that all I was good for was putting food in the house and giving him an allowance-” An allowance was something Masato had insisted that they shouldn’t give Saito. At least, not now- not when he’d give them attitude to do anything around the house, hardly even willing to clean his room. He didn’t even do his own laundry- getting Ren to do everything for him. But before his attitude had kicked in, Ren had convinced Masato that he was responsible enough to get an allowance, but when Masato insisted that they retract it, Ren hadn’t. “I told him I just cared for him- that I was checking on him. He told me he hated me, Masa. Sai told me he wished we had left him at the home. He’d rather have anyone else be his parent over me.” This is the point where Ren has broken down into sobs, and Masato does his best to cradle Ren’s head. 

“He doesn’t mean it, darling.” Masato coos, pressing his cheek to the top of Ren’s head. “I’ve no idea if it’s his age, or something he won’t tell us- but his attitude is horrid and his words were cruel, and it will be addressed. But he’s saying these things to hurt you, Ren.”

“I don’t know, Masa.” Ren says quietly. “Maybe I’m the one doing something wro-”

“Ren.” Masato says sternly. Masato shifts, to make Ren move his head, and he cups Ren’s face. He runs his thumbs over Ren’s cheeks, to wipe off some of his tears. “It is _not_ acceptable for him to speak to you like that. We’ve spoiled him too much, if he thinks it’s okay to disrespect you. I know you love him, and I know you want to give him the best life you can give him, but it doesn’t excuse that behavior. ...I’m going to be setting some ground rules tonight. I despise it, when I hear about how he speaks to you. You can’t let him, Ren.” Masato leans forward, pulling Ren down, so their foreheads press together. “But this is absolutely too far. For him to speak to you so poorly that it left you in tears… We’ve let it get too far and I’m not allowing this to go any further.” Masato shifts just slightly, so that he can press his lips gently to Ren’s. “You’ve already put up with me being a brat to you for so long in our lives.” Masato mumbles against Ren’s lips. “You don’t need to take that from our son.” 

Masato feels Ren wince. “That was… a complicated situation.” Ren’s sigh brushes against Masato’s lips. “Will you at least tell me what ground rules you’re going to set? I don’t want to be too hard on him.”

Masato sighs himself, but it’s a sharper sound. “We’re getting his login information, to view his grades and assignments. If he really wants to make an allowance, he’ll be doing chores around the house, and we’re teaching him to do his own laundry- which is his responsibility, and does not count towards his allowance. If I hear him speak to you like he has been- I’m taking his computer and television from his room and he isn’t getting them back until his behavior turns around, and I _will_ do that as often as I need to. And he’ll be giving you a _sincere_ apology. And I want you to stick with me on these, Ren. I know discipline scares you- but he won’t hate you, just because you put your foot down.” Ren frowns, and Masato’s fingers brush over Ren’s cheek. Masato’s voice softens. “Ren, would you ever allow him to speak to me the way that he’s spoken to you?”

Ren’s eyes close. “No.” His voice is quiet. “I wouldn’t.”

“Then- I’m going to go speak to him.” Masato presses another soft kiss to Ren’s lips. “I want you to take some time to calm down, and then I want you to take the younger children out, to do whatever you want. Get yourselves a treat, or visit the arcade.”

Ren frowns. “Without you and Sai?”

“I’ll take care of this, this time. I just want you to go do something you enjoy, and it would be better to speak to Sai without Yuu and Yuki listening in.” Masato’s eyebrows draw in. “And I’m sure you and Sai will need to speak, when you’re back. It would be best if you had… a bit of a break between it, I think.” Masato leans back a bit again, and then brushes his thumbs across Ren’s cheeks again. 

“Will you stay here with me for a moment, Masa?” Ren mumbles, his voice breaking as he tightens his grip. Masato doesn’t think he’d be able to pull away, emotionally or physically. So instead, Masato wraps his arms around Ren’s neck, leaning into his chest. Masato stays until Ren’s breathing has truly evened out, until Ren pulls his face away from Masato’s hair. Until Masato really does feel like Ren is feeling at least a little calmer- and only then does Masato move. Ren lets Masato off of his lap, and Masato works to straighten Ren’s hair a bit, gently brushing a piece of Ren’s sunset orange hair behind his ear. 

“Wash up, Ren. The twins are in Yuu’s room.” Masato presses a soft kiss to Ren’s forehead. 

While Masato certainly didn’t act the way he used to towards Ren- he still usually gave Ren much more trouble than he was now. But there were few things that Masato hated more than seeing Ren upset. 

Masato waits until Ren washes up his face and heads towards Yuuya’s room. Masato leans against the doorframe, to watch Ren enter the room. Ren’s smile is bright, as he moves to crouch down next to the children. He plays with them for a moment, before he finally proposes their treat.

Masato can’t help but chuckle at Ren’s overzealous offer to go out with them to get ice cream- and their own enthusiasm towards the idea is just as endearing. Masato smiles at them as they rush around the room, though when Ren heads towards Yuu to help him get on his shoes, Masato goes to help Yuki. 

“Are you coming too, Dad?” Yuki asks, squirming excitedly. Luckily, Masato had gotten skilled with helping excited children dress- and he was struggling much less than Ren was. If struggling was what you’d call it- Ren looked just as entertained as Yuuya did. 

“Not today, Yuki. This is just going to be you, Yuu and Daddy.” 

Masato resists the urge to turn around. He can see Ren’s teasing grin in his head already. Masato was much more of a ‘Dad’ or ‘Father’ type- but that’s what _Masato_ was. Saito, when he wasn’t in his attitude, tended to call them both dad, but to have some difference for the little kids, Ren, to them, was ‘Daddy’.

Masato helps Yuki stand when her shoes are on, and then he goes over to help Ren with Yuu, because at this point they’re playing more than they are getting his shoes on, but Masato can’t quite hide the small smile on his face. Masato sees them out, placing a short kiss on the forehead of the children and then a short kiss on Ren’s cheek. “Stay safe.”

“We will.” Ren promises. “Call me if you need me.”

“I will.”

Ren leans in, to quickly press a kiss of his own to Masato’s cheek, before he places one hand on Yuki’s head and one on Yuuya’s shoulder, and the three of them head out. Ren shoots one look over his shoulder before Masato smiles at him and closes the door. 

Masato’s smile drops, when the door is closed, and he sighs. There was no way around it, speaking to Saito. This wasn’t something he was willing to let slide. For both Ren’s sake, and for Saito’s. Saito needed to learn that he shouldn’t be speaking to anyone the way he spoke to his father, and Ren didn’t deserve to be spoken to like that. Masato knocks firmly on Saito’s door. 

Masato gives it a few seconds, but when there is no sign that the door _will_ open, Masato speaks, his voice sharp. “Saito. I expect you to open the door. _Now._ ”

Masato can hear a huff, but Masato is the known disciplinarian, and Saito knows better than to disobey him.

Masato really wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it was because he was so much stricter than Ren- because in the end, Masato’s punishments were never harsh or unfair. But he didn’t waiver on them when he gave them. Masato didn’t do idle threats.

The door opens. 

“We need to speak.” Masato’s voice is serious, if not a bit grim. “Your father and the younger ones are out, so I’d like to sit at the table to speak with you.”

Saito says nothing. He nods, but he looks irritated. Masato lets Saito lead the way downstairs, but his anger is obvious- more so than it usually is, and it almost puts Masato off. But Masato follows him down, careful to keep his expression stern but not angry. Saito sits at the head of the table, which does make Masato frown, but he chooses to turn his chair to properly face Saito. 

Masato’s frown doesn’t leave as he starts. “Saito, what happened this afternoon?”

“Ren wouldn’t _fucking_ leave me alone.” Saito crosses his arms, clearly angry. 

Masato is frozen for a moment, his frown disappearing. “ _Saito_.” Masato says sharply, on impulse. He wasn’t sure what bothered him more- the use of Ren’s first name after years of calling him ‘dad’ or his language. “We don’t speak like that in this household.”

“Stop treating me like one of the little kids.” Saito snaps. 

“I’d like to have a civilized conversation with you.” Masato pulls himself together, to return to being as calm as he can. “If you need a moment of silence to calm off-” Masato reaches out when Saito stands. Neither of them had heard the door open, but when Saito roughly knocks Masato’s hand away, Masato stands. Masato had reacted out, to keep Saito in the chair- if Saito went back in his room he wasn’t likely to leave. But while Masato doesn’t reach out to Saito again, he hardly has time for his expression to become stern before his eyes widen, stumbling back into his chair when Saito _pushes_ him. Saito moves to storm away, but he’s stopped by Ren, standing in the doorframe, almost a bit frozen. 

When Saito tries to push past Ren, Ren’s face changes, becoming extremely serious, and he doesn’t move at first. With some difficulty he moves his gaze from Masato to Saito. “Saito.” Ren’s voice is grim, low and serious- a tone Masato very rarely heard. “You are old enough to know better than to raise your hand to _anyone_ , especially your dad. Wait in your room. I’ll be up there in a minute. We need to have a very serious talk.”

Saito huffs when he moves past Ren, but Ren’s expression changes when he looks at Masato. “My God, Masa, are you alright?” Ren cradles Masato’s face, looking him over. 

“I’m sore, but it’s fine.” Masato’s voice is very quiet. Ren’s expression doesn’t change. He presses a kiss to Masato’s forehead. “Why are you back so early?”

“Yuki forgot her toy. And I’m glad she did- if that had escalated…” 

“I’m fine.” Masato reiterates, though his voice is too grim. 

“We are going to speak about this.” Ren assures, kissing Masato’s forehead again. “But right now I need to speak to Saito. This has gone too far. For him to even _consider_ attacking you like that-”

“It was just a shove.” Masato’s hand raises, gently squeezing Ren’s bicep. “But it does absolutely need to be addressed.”

“Will you go get the little ones? I think I need to take care of this now.” Ren sighs. 

“Of course I will.”

Ren doesn’t fully release Masato until they split apart- Ren upstairs and Masato to the door. It was very clear that Ren had asked them to stay towards the door. Masato could actually feel that he was close to tears, the actual shock wearing off, but he forces himself to smile, crouching down in front of Yuuya and Yuki who look nervous. 

“Is Sai in trouble?” Yuki asks. Out of the two of them, she looks the most openly afraid. Masatso reaches out, and both kids move forward quickly. Masato wraps his arms tightly around them. 

“I think Saito is just… having a hard time right now.” Masato says softly. “Daddy’s going to speak to him and we’re going to get it all figured out.” Masato presses a kiss to both of their temples. Normally Ren was the more affectionate parent, but Masato was desperately trying to keep his mind off of what had happened in the dining room. He genuinely was shaken up. He knew that something was wrong, by how angry Saito had been acting, but for Saito to get _physical_? Masato hadn’t been prepared for that. “I’m afraid we may have to wait to take you out for a treat.” Masato apologizes. “But I promise that we’ll make it up to you this weekend. ...Maybe we can order something in, just a little later, hmm?”

“Yeah!” 

“Please!” 

Both of their excitable responses were enough to get a small smile on Masato’s face. “Why don’t we go into your room and play for a while?”

Their excitement was adorable, and they’re fast to pull away from the hug Masato hadn’t yet dropped, to pull him towards their rooms. Masato enjoyed doing arts and crafts, but when it came to playing with their toys, it was usually Ren that played with them. Ren had a better talent for letting himself relax and be playful, especially in comparison to Masato’s stiff formalness. It always made the kids happy, when Masato would push that aside and play with them anyways.

Masato must spend at least an hour in Yuki’s room with the twins before there’s a soft knock at the open door. Masato can tell from one look at Ren’s face that he had been crying, but had done his best to wipe his face off. “Are you three having fun?”

“Yeah! Dad said we can order something later!” Yuki says, getting to her feet, to run over to Ren. Yuu is fast to follow suit. 

“Mmhmm!”

Ren can’t help the amused chuckle, setting his hand on Yuki’s head. “Did he? Well, I suppose if Dad said so… I’m sure we can figure something out. But first- I need to steal your dad for a moment. We’ll be back in just a few minutes, alright? Can you two play nice?” Yuki is the first to nod and Ren smiles. “Good girl.” He gently pinches Yuuya’s cheek. “You be good too, yeah?” 

Masato stands, to make his way to the door- but the promise of treats gets the kids back inside of Yuki’s room. Ren’s arm wraps around Masato’s shoulder, and Ren pulls him close to his side, his voice dropping lower, into a mumble. “Sai has some things to say to you- but how are you holding up? Should we talk about it first?”

“I can wait.” Masato assures quietly. “I can speak to him first. But I imagine we have… quite a lot to speak about anyways.”

“Yeah.” Ren says softly. “We do.” He sighs, squeezing Masato. “Then we’ll stop by Sai’s room, order everyone some treats, and then when the little ones go to bed, you and I can speak.”

Masato nods. He couldn’t lie- he liked having the set plan. Ren’s arm doesn’t leave his shoulders, even when they enter Saito’s room. The door had stayed open a crack. Ren speaks softly before they enter. “I told him that I’d prefer him to keep his door open a bit during the day for some time. I’ll… speak to you more about why later tonight. I did lay down most of the ground rules we discussed. ...It just… got too far.” Ren’s eyebrows furrow. Masato leans his head against Ren’s shoulder for a moment, but they finally separate before entering his room- mostly. Ren’s hand stays on Masato’s lower back. 

One look at Saito’s face shows Masato that he’s been crying, too. 

Saito speaks softly, and it seems like he’s having difficulty looking at Masato’s face. His apology is quiet. “I’m sorry for pushing you, dad.”

“I expect that it won’t happen again.” Masato’s stern tone turns just a bit softer. “But I do appreciate and accept your apology. And your father-”

“He’s apologized.” Ren assures Masato quietly. 

“I… do understand. You are in a strange situation at a difficult age- but I want you to grow to be a compassionate, kind boy. The one that I do know you are, Sai. But I can’t have you speaking to anyone, especially not your father the way you have been.” Masato’s eyebrows lower. “It’s perfectly alright to be frustrated, but we need to find you a better outlet for it.” 

Saito remains quiet, but he hangs his head. Masato does notice that the power cable to both Saito’s computer and TV is missing and both are powered off. 

“Now.” Ren says gently. “If you’re feeling up to it, Sai, you’re free to come downstairs with us. We’re ordering some type of treat.”

Masato doesn’t stop Ren. It’s partly because his suspicion that something was wrong has been confirmed by how both of them are acting- and because he trusts Ren’s judgement. After all, clearly Ren had gone through with at least some of the punishments, and Masato was sure that Ren had taken it seriously. Their son getting physical with him was a very serious thing.

Saito shakes his head, but Masato is still relieved that there isn’t a response beyond that. 

“We’ll get you something.” Ren promises. “If you’re hungry later, we’ll have it saved for you.”

Saito doesn’t say anything. Masato’s eyebrows furrow, but Ren just rubs Masato’s back, to lead him out. 

They end up ordering cupcakes from a restaurant that sells them in six. Ren had chosen all of them- though Masato notices that Ren had spent longest on the cupcake for Saito. Masato stops Ren before he orders, glancing over it. It was clear which cupcake Ren had chosen for Masato- but Masato had noticed there were _two_ of them. 

“If anyone should get two, it _should_ be you, Ren.”

The kids are still playing in their room and Ren and Masato are by themselves on the couch. Ren smiles, and Masato narrows his eyes. Masato goes to reach for the phone, to change the order, but Ren leans forward, catching Masato in a kiss that catches him by surprise and gets him to pause. When Ren finally pulls back, he’s already clicked the button to send the order. Masato huffs, shaking his head, but Ren just gives him a shorter peck. 

It doesn’t take long for the cupcakes to arrive, and it takes less than a minute after setting Yuu and Yuki up with them that both kids have faces covered in colored frosting. Ren hums, amused, as he watches them, and Masato sighs, already thinking of the clean-up after as he carefully and neatly eats his own. 

Ren presses a kiss to Masato’s forehead. “I’ll take care of bath time. Why don’t you tidy this up, and then I’ll let you put down Yuki tonight.”

“Are you sure?” Masato’s eyebrows furrow. Yuuya was much more of a challenge to put to sleep. 

“Of course I am.” Ren’s voice turns teasing. “Maybe during the hour it will take you can get some more of your sewing done.”

“You mean the two hours.” Masato does manage a small smile to give to Ren. Ren smiles back, squeezing Masato’s forearm and going to get the children ready. 

Yuki was easy to put down- she liked Masato or Ren to read her a story and to sing her a lullaby, and she’d be out. Yuuya liked to negotiate his way into as many songs and stories as he could. Eventually, Ren gets out, though Masato hadn’t been able to pick up his sewing. Ren walks into Masato, pacing. 

Ren is fast to close the door and head to Masato, his hands finding Masato’s waist. Ren’s nose brushes Masato’s and the look of concern is obvious. “I wasn’t able to properly check you over earlier. Are you okay, Masa?”

“I’m fine.” Masato assures quietly. “I may have a small bruise on my back, but I think that was from the way I fell, rather than how he pushed me. ...Honestly, more than anything, I believe I’m just shaken up. I would have never thought he would get aggressive.”

Ren sighs, sliding his hands onto Masato’s back to wrap his arms around him, holding him tightly. “If I had any idea, I wouldn’t have left.” Ren says grimly. He presses his forehead to Masato’s, closing his eyes. “He is going through a difficult time right now. Though it’s absolutely no excuse to raise a hand to anyone.” Ren pulls back, enough to place a kiss to the corner of Masato’s mouth, and then to his cheek, and his forehead and his nose. “I know that we’ve beaten that point in but-” Ren frowns. “I love the both of you more than anything, but the thought that he may have hurt you worse…” Ren squeezes Masato tighter. When Ren’s head ducks, his hair tickles Masato’s cheek and his nose presses to the corner of Masato’s jaw. “I really hope we’ve figured this out. But we should sit down before I really get into it.” Ren finally pulls back, and Masato sighs, his fingers trailing down Ren’s arms as he pulls back. Ren smiles, but it looks almost tired. “This will be a serious discussion, and I know we _should_ have it sitting up but I think I’d rather cuddle while we talk. I… think we both need it right now.”

“If that’s what you’d rather do, Ren, it’s fine.” Masato pauses, reaching up to brush a strand of Ren’s hand behind his ear. “I certainly wouldn’t mind.”

Ren pulls Masato to the bed by quickly interlacing their hands, and then Ren lets Masato on the bed first, climbing in almost immediately after. As soon as Ren has settled, he had Masato wrapped in his arms and pulled against his chest. Masato lets his head rest on Ren’s shoulder. They’re both sitting up against the headboard. 

“Something is going on with him.” Masato says quietly. “I’m guessing that you learned what it was?”

“I did.” Ren holds tightly onto Masato. His voice is serious. Grim. “He’s been thinking about how he’s adopted.” Masato can’t see Ren’s face, but he knows that Ren is frowning. 

“It… I thought this would be a problem at some point.” Masato can’t quite hide the emotions in his voice- most of it _sad_. 

“It’s hard.” Ren agrees. “Because there is no hiding that they are. That he is. ...He’s dealing with the feelings of being unwanted by his birth parents, and there wasn’t much I could say about them.” They had never learned about his birth parents, or why they had chosen to give him up. “And those unwanted feelings have been sticking with him.” Ren ducks his head, and he moves to nearly curl around Masato. “He’s told me that he doesn’t believe we _can_ want him. Because we aren’t his biological parents. ...He doesn’t think it’s fair, that he was given up. And it’s difficult, because of course it isn’t fair. I love Sai with all of my heart, but of course I wish things were different. That his birth parents could have taken care of him and put him in a happy, healthy home-”

“But they couldn’t.” Masato sighs. “Or they didn’t. ...Have… have we not been doing well enough?” Masato’s voice softens in the worst kind of way. “How do we fix this? Of course he isn’t unwanted-”

“Of course I think we can always do more.” Ren says gently. “We can work to try to spend more time with him, and as a family- to remind him that of course we care about him. But it isn’t entirely our fault, darling. It’s not your fault that he’s feeling this way. We’ve been doing everything we can to give him a good life. Now, all we can do is try to help him through this. We both knew that there would be difficult moments. We may have adopted him young, but to be adopted at all is something that neither of us can fully understand.” Ren’s thumb runs over Masato’s side in a comforting way, and Masato imagines it’s for both of them. “I went a little easy on him, but I still set down some ground rules. I made it very clear that he would never be in trouble for how he’s feeling, but it doesn’t excuse his actions, and there would still be consequences. ...I asked him to leave his door open some for… my own personal piece of mind. I think I’d like to arrange a visit for him to speak to a therapist, to see if it might help him. I did confiscate his television and computer for a week- and I do plan to address the allowance situation, but I think that should be a different conversation.”

Masato squirms, enough to put his hand on Ren’s cheek. “You did well, Ren. And I agree. I think it may be helpful to at least schedule an appointment, to see if it could do some good.”

“We’ll handle it.” Ren promises. “It breaks my heart to hear him thinking this way- but it’s the same as you’ve been saying, baby. He’s at a very awkward place in his life already, and dealing with all of this, too, isn’t easy. But I know he’ll come around, and I know he’s going to grow up to be a wonderful person.” Ren flashes Masato a bright, teasing smile. “How couldn’t he, with dads like us?”


End file.
